The Patakis: Episode 1
by heyarnoldforeverandever
Summary: (Warning:Not finished, in progress.) I want The Patakis to be made as well as The Jungle Movie so I thought I would make my own little series. Of course Craig Bartlett had the great idea in the first place. (:
1. Chapter 1

**The Patakis: Episode 1**

_This is my version of the show that should have happened but, sadly, did not. This is in first person, in Helga's perspective. I am sure you could figure that one out but I figured I would tell it anyway. I do not own the Hey Arnold cast of characters. However I am adding some new characters. I also do not own the idea for the Patakis, for that is Craig Bartlett's brilliant idea. Nickelodeon owns Hey Arnold and Mr. Bartlett thought it up. I hope you like this "episode" because there will be more to come. I also want to thank Craig Bartlett and Nickelodeon for putting on such a great show that is Hey Arnold!_

It was raining. It was a gloomy day… well at least it was once "it" happened. Maybe it was in my mind but once "it" happened everything seemed grey and sad. It felt like nothing could fix this. I felt like my heart was ripped out of my chest. I felt…_empty._

This was not how the day was supposed to go but of course it _did_. That is just my luck, but maybe though I should start from the beginning.

Try to picture this. It was a sunny bright day. I was done getting ready for school and I was about to meet up with Arnold. We had been dating for four years now. To me it seemed like it was just yesterday that Arnold pulled me in his arms when we were in San Lorenzo and kissed me. I thought it might be because he was just grateful for me helping him find his parents. I soon found out he had always sort of liked me but didn't say it because I had always been a bully to him. I felt stupid after that because if I would have just been nice to him maybe I could have dated him even sooner. I knew that I would have to tell him my secret. I told him that I actually loved him and treating him so mean was all an act. He understood and we started to go out.

That day was our four year anniversary. I was prepared for it. I got him a watch that he had said he wanted before. I figured it would show that I listen to him and I care about what he likes. I had wrapped it in his favorite color: blue. It had a pink bow on it and a note attached to it. The note read:

I am so lucky to have someone as amazing as you. You can always brighten up my day and make me smile. Since you help me so much I thought I could do this for you. Now you will never have to ask the time again. P.S. Hope this makes you laugh.

I had put a lot of thought into that note. All I thought about that day was the look on Arnold's face when he saw the watch and read the note. I hoped the joke would make him laugh. I loved his laugh.

I was daydreaming about it when I noticed I was on the stoop of Arnold's house. I had come here so much I didn't even have to think about it. I knew exactly how to get here by heart. I looked at his door, took a breath, and knocked on his door. I almost fainted seeing his wonderful face. I still couldn't believe I was dating him even though it had been four years.

"What's up football head?" I asked him trying to make him smile at that childhood nickname I had given him. He smiled but not the kind of smile he usually had when I called him that. I smiled back.

"Nothing much Helga, just wondering when you would show up. I missed you," Arnold said sweetly. I giggled. It seemed that ever since I started dating Arnold, I had been able to giggle.

"I just saw you yesterday Arnold, I mean how much do you need to see me? I can't lie, though because I missed you too," I said. He laughed. I still noticed it wasn't his normal laugh that made my heart swell, but one that seemed…fake? "Is something wrong Arnold?" I asked, trying to be sweet to my love. He seemed far away.

"Nothing's wrong Helga, I just am thinking about… stuff," He said not giving me much. I couldn't really read between the lines. I could normally figure out what was wrong with my muse, but that day was an unusual day to say the least. It had many surprises, but not the happy kind.

"What you thinkin' Arnold?" I asked very worried for him. He looked away. I pushed, knowing I could get it out of him. "I want to know Arnold. You know as well as I do, that I won't be able to think straight not knowing what my little football headed boyfriend is upset about," I jokingly said, but I really did want to know. I put my hand on his cheek, (my free hand because the other one was behind my back hiding my gift for Arnold and my school stuff) and I kissed his lips gently. He smiled but this time was more "him."

"I have really bad news that I don't know how to say," Arnold blurted out softly. I frowned thinking he was going to break up with me.

"You're not…umm…breaking up with me, are you?" I asked nervously. Arnold's face shot straight up and looked up at me. He shook his head ferociously. He put my face on his hand softly and kissed me like a gentleman. I sighed girlishly, knowing I probably looked like an idiot.

"I am certainly _not_ breaking up with you. You are someone that I will always treasure. I will always love you and you are a great girlfriend," Arnold stated matter-of-factly. I smirked and made a smart comment.

"You got that right bucko, and don't you ever forget it," I said. This made him smile and say his famous line.

"Ok, whatever you say Helga," he said. I laughed. I remembered my gift and thought that might cheer him up.

"So, I have something for our special day. Here you go, Arnold," I said handing him the watch with the note on it. He took it and opened the case with the watch inside of it. The moment he saw it his face lit up. Then he read the note and laughed for real. He laughed his famous Arnold laugh, the genuine, real, sweet, and lovely laugh. The funny thing is that when he laughed, it always made me laugh with him. We must have looked like morons, standing on a stoop laughing about a joke that wasn't that funny. I didn't think he was laughing about the joke though. I thought maybe he was laughing because _I_ was the one who wrote it and I am not the corny joke expert. _Arnold_ would have that title. He always gave me sweet and corny notes that would make me laugh. I guessed it was my turn.

"I love it Helga, thank you. I have something for you too," Arnold said. He put one finger up and ran upstairs. He came back down with his school stuff and a square object decorated with pink and red wrapping paper. He smiled and handed it to me. "Happy anniversary Helga." He told me and blushed. I took it and started to open it. It was a picture frame. Though, it was not just any old picture frame, it was a frame with a picture of him and I snuggled next to one another. It had a bow that matched the one I wore until fifth grade. Then I started hiding it under my worn out cap that I found one day in the attic.

I observed the picture closely. It was the best thing that I had gotten in… well forever, and that is including the Nancy Spumoni Signature Snow Boots that I got when I was in fourth grade for Christmas. I then looked up at Arnold and smiled. I wrapped my arms around his neck and gave him a hug.

"I love it Arnold… and I love _you_," I whispered in his ear. I pulled away and gave him a gentle kiss on his perfect lips. He reddened a little and so did I. He kissed me back but softer and I felt so content. I wished that moment could have lasted forever, but I knew we had to get to school so I giggled and spoke. "Umm… Arnold, I wish this moment could go on but we have to get to school soon or we will be late." I told him. His eyes widened.

"What time is it anyway?" Arnold asked me. I rolled my eyes. I pointed at his new watch I had given him.

"Arnold, you do know you have a watch now right?" I asked him. He blushed from embarrassment. I giggled at the thought that he could be embarrassed by _me_.

"I guess I forgot," Arnold laughed at his mistake. I laughed too.

"Did you even read the note? It even said "now you won't have to ask the time again," but of course even you're not dense enough to not have gotten my corny joke," I said nudging him with my elbow. He laughed and closed the door behind him.

"Shall we go?" He said politely like the gentleman he is. I giggled again and started down the steps of his stoop. He followed after and we walked together hand in hand. I had my school stuff and picture frame of us in my other hand and he carried his school stuff in his free hand. I noticed that he had put the watch on and smiled to myself. I noticed how the watch looked so _perfect_ on him. Of course I thought everything looked perfect on him.

"I love you, Helga," Arnold whispered to me. It was so quiet I could barely make out what he said. I wondered what made him say it so out of the blue. A thought then had crossed my mind: what was that bad news he was talking about? I wanted to ask but I didn't want to upset him if it was really that bad. I figured knowing what was troubling him might be better for him so that I could help him through it. I decided to ask.

"Arnold… I was wondering," I stammered. He looked up.

"Yes Helga," He answered.

"What was that bad news you were so worried about? I don't want to upset you, but I feel like it would help if I knew. I could help you with whatever is making you upset. You of course know that I don't want my football headed angel to be upset."

"That's sweet Helga but…I don't know if I should tell you. I mean you can't help me with _this _situation. It is a bit of a problem that can't be fixed. It's something I need to decide but has kind of been decided for me. I know this doesn't make sense but hopefully I will be able to tell you…I'm just…worried of how you will react towards it. I don't want to see _you_ upset," Arnold explained. I was blushing and also frowning. I could not help but be worried. He made it seem like it was the end of the world or something. I tried to coax him a bit.

"It's ok Arnold, if you don't want to tell me now it's all right. I get that this thing is something that is hard for you and you have to think about it on your own. I respect your feeling," I told him honestly. He smiled. He stopped dead in his tracks pulled me close and whispered something in my ear.

"You are the best girlfriend a guy could ever have," he whispered softly. I giggled. He then took my chin in his soft hands and kissed my lips that I thought were not worthy of his touch. I looked at him and smiled a little, still worried about him.

"Ok, ok I know I'm the best girlfriend in the world and all but don't get so mushy on me pal. It's not like you don't tell me I'm the greatest everyday, which now I'm starting to believe. Man my head is going to start to swell and it's gonna start to be the size of your head…which is saying something," I nudged him with my elbow. He laughed and I joined in. He took my hand and we kept walking until we saw the steps of P.S. 118.

We saw Gerald and Phoebe. They had started dating shortly after Arnold and I started to date. I, of course was happy for Phoebe. She was still my best friend and I think she will never stop. She is a great "assistant" after all. Gerald noticed us and waved. We both waved back. I had started to get along better with Gerald. I still called him his nickname of "tall hair boy" but all in all, we got along pretty well. We reached them and started some small talk.

"Hey guys, how's are happy couple this morning?" I asked them. Phoebe and Gerald blushed at the couple comment but smiled.

"We're fine, but did you hear about Rhonda and Sid?" Gerald asked us. I rolled my eyes and looked at Arnold. He looked at me too. We averted our eyes back to Gerald.

"On again or off again?" Arnold and I asked simultaneously. Rhonda and Sid were one of those couples that get together and then break up the next day or so. It could be annoying at times…actually, it was _always_ annoying. Gerald looked at Phoebe and she answered for him.

"They are off," Phoebe continued. "I did some research and I conquered that they are never getting back together…ever." I just scoffed.

"Where did you get that logic from, Pheebs?"

"Well, Rhonda screamed at him that "they were never getting back together" and Sid just shrugged as if he did not care. I feel as if they are done forever," Phoebe explained. I shrugged.

"Oh well, why do I care anyway? I mean they are a bad couple anyway, I mean all they do is fight and if they aren't fighting they're giving mushy, stupid love notes to each other. Criminy, they are so annoying," I said truthfully. Arnold shook his head in agreement.

"They really don't have chemistry at all. I know I don't usually say this but…they _can _be annoying at times…"

"Oh my goodness, Mr. Goody two shoes here said someone is annoying…pinch me for I must be dreaming," I said playfully to Arnold. I hammed it up and put the back of my hand on my forehead, as if I was going to faint. They all laughed and Arnold playfully pinched me. I decided to use this to my advantage. "Ow, Arnold that hurt," I said with a hurt expression on my face. He looked at me with concern.

"I…I'm sorry Helga…are you ok?" He asked. I laughed.

"Ha! Gotcha' again football head!"

"Whatever you say Helga," Arnold said his familiar phrase. I scowled.

"That's right bucko, whatever _I _say!" We both shared a laugh. Phoebe and Gerald joined us. We started to walk up the steps of our school. We were in ninth grade. P.S. 118 used to be just for elementary but they had extended it so it was big enough for grades first through twelfth. It could be a little cramped at times but it was pretty cool seeing the little kids and thinking, "is that how _we _acted at that age?" It was especially funny seeing kids with crushes on each other. I would see a girl trip a boy and call him a name from time to time. I would just smirk when I saw the lovesick look on her face as he walked away. We saw it more with the boys but, like me there were girls who did that sort of thing too. It made me and Arnold laugh all the time.

We had reached our classroom. Ironically Mr. Simmons stayed our teacher. He kept getting promoted every year we would go to the next grade. He was just our poetry teacher now. Needless to say, Mr. Simmons taught my favorite subject. It was my second to last class of the day. I looked forward to that time of the day every day. I still wrote poetry for Arnold but I wrote more poetry about other things too. I got inspired about more than _just _Arnold then. I could write about pretty much anything; of course Arnold was my main focus.

We walked into our homeroom class and sat down at our seats. Phoebe sat in front of me, Arnold sat beside me and Gerald sat in front of Arnold, next to Phoebe. They were "the best seats in the house" for me. I could pass notes easily to Arnold or Phoebe.

"Hello class," our homeroom teacher, Miss Duncan said. She continued. "I am taking attendance so I need you to settle down. You may talk, but quietly," she said as she sat at her computer and started putting in attendance. I turned to Arnold.

"So, who you gonna pick for your chemistry lab partner today?" I asked. We had chemistry next and our teacher had told us yesterday that we would get to choose partners today. I knew he would say me so I winked.

"Hmmm…I think I will pick Stinky…"

"Yeah right, you're gonna have to do better than that," I said as I rolled my eyes. He smirked.

"What about Harold?" I crossed my arms.

"Oh you and me both know he will just eat your supplies…even if it's _not_ edible," I said. He laughed. He rubbed his chin as if he was deep in thought.

"Maybe I should pick _Helga G. Pataki_, she's a good egg…"

"I think we have a winner. I can't argue that she is really smart and works super hard on her work. I think I should pick her for my partner too, but of course I wouldn't want to deprive you of your "Helga" time," I said winking and nudging him with my elbow. He rolled his eyes.

"Never mind, you can have her," he said. We burst out in a giggle fit. Miss Duncan looked up from the screen. We noticed we were the loudest ones in the classroom and everyone was staring at us. I scowled and stood up to look at our fellow classmates.

"What are you staring at geek baits? Have you never seen people laughing before? Criminy, why don't you get out more," I said satisfied. I could tell Arnold was using all his strength not to start laughing. Miss Duncan looked at me.

"That will be enough Miss Pataki," Miss Duncan stated. I blushed slightly but shook it off.

"Umm…sure thing Miss Duncan," I said. She nodded and went back to doing attendance. I looked at Arnold and he was holding his hand over him mouth and laughing behind it. I winked. "I know, I know…I'm hilarious," I said. He nodded his head and closed his eyes, obviously holding back a ton of laughter. I had a feeling this was going to be a great day…but boy was I wrong.


	2. Chapter 2

The Patakis: Part 2 of Episode 1

**Sequel to that big cliffhanger! Hope you enjoy reading it! (:**

It was seventh period! I was so happy. Arnold and I walked to room112. That was our poetry classroom. Phoebe and Gerald had Poetry eighth period so it was just me and Arnold. We had a few other familiar faces in the class like Sheena, Eugene, (who was and still is a jinx.)Nadine, and Lila. Most of the kids were new ones from other schools though. All the kids from elementary were still going here, just in different classes at the time. I am sure you're wondering about the Lila thing so I will explain that.

Lila and I were not friends. We will never be friends. She is still Little Miss Perfect to me. I don't hate her though. I didn't hate as many people as I used to. Lila is just not someone I can be friends with. We had gotten along better since Arnold had been over her for years. That is that.

Arnold and I sat at our seats. Mr. Simmons was sitting at his desk. He looked up to check all of us off for attendance. He had started to develop gray hair and he had to wear reading glasses. He wasn't all that old but he had started to show he was aging quite a bit. He stood up after the bell had rung.

"Hello class. Are we all having a 'special' day today?"

"Whatever," most of the class said but most just grumbled and nodded their heads.

"Good, I am so glad that we are all doing well. Let us get on with the lesson, shall we? We are going to be learning about how to place our stanzas…" Mr. Simmons went on but the students started to day dream. I usually paid attention to poetry class but that day I was thinking about the news Arnold had said was making him sad. I hated when he was sad. The class seemed to drone on and on. Finally my ears perked up as Mr. Simmons said something that interested me.

"Your assignment will be to write a poem for someone you care about. It could be a family member or a friend…whoever you want. I look forward to reading them. I am going to give you some time now to start on it," Mr. Simmons explained. I smirked and looked at Arnold. Arnold blushed.

"Who are you going to write your poem about?" I asked. Arnold rubbed the back of his neck.

"I was thinking of doing it on my parents. I hope that's ok with you," Arnold answered. I smiled and took Arnold's hand.

"I would not be mad at you…you do what inspires you my love. I know I am doing what inspires me as well. Let me give you a hint. He's cute, kind, loving, and has the cutest football shaped head. Can you guess who?" I asked playfully. Arnold chuckled and looked into my eyes. He looked at me like he was never going to see me again. I got very concerned. "Arnold?"

"Yes?" Arnold said.

"Are you going to tell me that news soon or at all? I don't want to push but I'm worried about you." Arnold looked down and sighed.

"I will tell you on our walk home," Arnold said and as if on cue, the bell rang for us to go to eighth period. That was chemistry. Arnold and I walked to class together and sat at our assigned seats. We sat next to each other. We were lucky that year…that is up until that day.

"Alright class, you all know we have a project coming up so we are going to pick partners today. You may work with whomever you want. Go ahead; I'll give you two minutes.

"Let's talk…since we already know we're partners," Arnold said. I scoffed.

I thought you were a gentleman. You have to _ask _me to be your partner. It's more romantic that way." I winked. I thought it was so entertaining when he got that confused look on his face when he thought he did something wrong but didn't know what he did. He finally understood so he rolled his eyes.

"My dearest Helga, will you do me the honor of being my partner for chemistry. I just know you are the smartest girl in class…oh I mean the _world, _so you will get me a glorious grade," Arnold asked sarcastically. I rolled my eyes but then fluttered my eyelashes.

"Oh, I would just be delighted my sweet. You do not deserve my partnership but I guess I can do you a favor darling. I do not want to deny you of my beautiful brains." Arnold laughed as I did this. I started to laugh as well. To top off the act I decided to push my hair up and down like I was something…well I guess since Arnold loved me I had to be _something. _Arnold laughed more. We got into a huge giggle fit. Then Mrs. I-Don't-Know-How-To-Pronounce-Her-Last-Name spoke up.

"I hope you have your partners. Our project will be to make borax snowflakes. I will give the directions out before class ends and we learned about them last week so…" the teacher droned on about the project. I took notes about what she was saying but wasn't really listening to her. Arnold was taking notes too but he actually likes science so he was listening. I laughed in my mind. It turned out it hadn't been in my mind.

"Something you want to share Miss Pataki?" She asked me. I shook my head. Arnold was holding in his laughter. When the teacher looked away, I hit him in the arm. He looked at me with a frown. I looked away like I was innocent. He smiled a little. Sooner than you could say football head, class was over. Everyone bolted. Arnold and I walked out and to our lockers. They were next to each other as well. We grabbed our bags and we started to walk home.

"So…I think I should tell you that news now." I looked at him. Arnold was not looking at me.

"Shoot," I said. He took a big breath.

"We should sit down." We walked to the park and sat down on a bench.

"I'm ready. What is it you want to tell me?" I asked. Arnold took my hand and gave me a quick kiss before he blurted out the sentence I still hear in my nightmares.

"I'm moving Helga."


End file.
